Papabull Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Hi all, Does anyone know what bass and strings James Jamerson used for his recordings? Sorry if you think everyone should know this........ cheers PB Quote
Lozz196 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 And of course a Fender Precision - rosewood necked for those that believe rosewood/maple have different tonal qualities (myself being one, I should add). Quote
timmo Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) [quote name='Kiwi' timestamp='1420284281' post='2647466'] Labella Flatwounds I believe. [/quote]According to his book i had for Christmas, (which i would recommend, Standing in the Shadows of Motown)you are correct. Heavy gauge He never changed the strings unless they broke, and never cleaned his fretboard, as that is what gave the funk, apparently. Edited January 3, 2015 by timmo Quote
Dan Dare Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 I've also read that the neck of his P bass was quite badly bowed. Apparently, he reckoned the high action gave better tone. Quote
Papabull Posted January 3, 2015 Author Posted January 3, 2015 Thank you all for this..... It's really appreciated Cheers p B Quote
molan Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 La Bella still make the strings and, interestingly, don't often mention the Jamerson connection much any more after his widow sued them for using his name and image for marketing purposes. They switched to Donald Duck Dunn instead (which is still pretty impressive!). They are the 760M Original 1954 set. Quote
Sonic_Groove Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=4]Yep La Bella 760M Original 1954 set. They are great!![/size][/font][/color] [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828][size=4]Don't know if anyone mentioned he [/size]kept[size=4] the foam mute in his pBass? A cut piece of car sponge under the strings does a similar job, then [/size][/color][/font][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][color=#282828]you need to hit them HARD!!! [/color][/font] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=4]Brendan[/size][/font][/color] Edited January 3, 2015 by Sonic_Groove Quote
spectoremg Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Listen to 'You're All I Need To Get By' with your sub turned up - superb sound. Didn't the studio have a wooden floor that was hollow underneath or something? Fender Bassman? Quote
Jazzneck Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) Once you have the P Bass and La Bellas, unless you have an Ampeg B15 amp, then get yourself one of these too and set it to Flip Top Style with speaker emulation on - it's pretty close and helps a lot. But practice, practice, practice........ Edited January 3, 2015 by Jazzneck Quote
EssentialTension Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 The VT Bass unit is very good and I use one myself but story has it that at Motown the bass and guitars were recorded direct to the desk via a valve preamp. Amplifiers were not used. [url="http://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/1/541.html?1020196543"]http://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/1/541.html?1020196543[/url] [url="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-real-james-jamerson-amp.854013/"]http://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-real-james-jamerson-amp.854013/[/url] Quote
arthurhenry Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 His bass is known as "The Funk Machine" and has been missing for many years. The word "Funk" is carved into the neck heel. I believe there's an ongoing effort to try to find it. Lots of info on the web, I'm sure. Quote
Jazzneck Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) You're right ET, I just wish I could play a little bit like him..... Edited January 3, 2015 by Jazzneck Quote
spectoremg Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Wonder why the 'funk' machine's never turned up? Quote
Geek99 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Stock 62 precision with rosewood board and both covers. He played with just his index finger. I believe they were indeed labella flat wounds in heavy gauge that were never changed unless they broke. I did hear that he often went direct into the desk but also sometimes he amped the b15 On some tracks he doubled the line on double bass, baby love for example One of my heroes Quote
Geek99 Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1420309120' post='2647935'] Wonder why the 'funk' machine's never turned up? [/quote] Since it was stolen from him, it probably wouldnt be wise ? Quote
Dazed Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Very high action too. You really have to dig in to get the sound, stemming from double bass playing. Quote
pfretrock Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='timmo' timestamp='1420288257' post='2647519'] .....which i would recommend, Standing in the Shadows of Motown... [/quote] +1 Quote
scrumpymike Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='timmo' timestamp='1420288257' post='2647519'] According to his book i had for Christmas, (which i would recommend, Standing in the Shadows of Motown)you are correct. Heavy gauge He never changed the strings unless they broke, and never cleaned his fretboard, as that is what gave the funk, apparently. [/quote] +2! It was hearing Jamerson's bass-line on the Stevie Wonder hit 'I Was Made To Love Her' that converted me from lead to bass guitar. I vowed there and then that I'd learn to play it just like JJ - but I gave up on that one about 4 decades back!! Quote
Dan Dare Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Tears of a Clown was the one that did it for me. Genius. Quote
mentalextra Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Although it goes without saying he was a massive talent, those old motown songs were very special too Quote
pfretrock Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 Lots of dots in the aforementioned book. If you don't read (I don't ) there is some tab here which is fun to play. Quite a few stretches for my small hands! [url="http://www.thebassment.info/transcriptions/marvin_gaye_tammi_terrell-ain%27t_no_mountain_high_enough-tab.pdf"]http://www.thebassme..._enough-tab.pdf[/url] I read somewhere (possibly in the Hanyes Fender manual) that Jameson's bass was mixed low level in the records otherwise due to technical limitations it caused the pickup arm to jump out of the vinyl track and they hoped it would be someday re-mastered. Quote
Twincam Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 James came from upright so the high action will of suited him more. Very strong fingers. Probably 5mm maybe plus action and as said heavy flats. So pretty much what others have said. Adding played with one plucking finger dubbed the claw. Amped he was using ampeg b15's and often recorded straight into the mixing desk which would of been big old valve things. Quote
Hobbayne Posted January 3, 2015 Posted January 3, 2015 [quote name='spectoremg' timestamp='1420309120' post='2647935'] Wonder why the 'funk' machine's never turned up? [/quote] This is a good read. [url="http://www.philbrodieband.com/muso_james_jamerson-funk-machine.htm"]http://www.philbrodieband.com/muso_james_jamerson-funk-machine.htm[/url] Quote
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